Found Deceased CO - Shanann Watts (34), Celeste"Cece" (3) and Bella (4), Frederick, 13 Aug 2018 *CW GUILTY* #50

[Nessa131]

IIRC Gitana said you cannot sue on behalf of a dead person - they have no further rights.

Couldn’t they do a wrongful death suit for each child and shanann? Or is that only if they are found not guilty?

 

[NuttMegg]

Couldn’t they do a wrongful death suit for each child and shanann? Or is that only if they are found not guilty?

Where would the settlement come from? I doubt they could sue the parents, CW has nothing, and even the parents don't seem to be wealthy.

 

[MollyDDD]

IIRC Gitana said you cannot sue on behalf of a dead person - they have no further rights.

Ohhh. Hmmm, well what about for causing them emotional distress or something of that nature? Is a Protective Order From Abuse used only for physical contact or can it apply to verbal as well?

 

[PommyMommy]

I know! I'm twitching. I want to send it back with edits. Commas, apostrophes. How could they let something be submitted like this to the judge in their son's case without having it reviewed by an attorney? (Or...anyone.)

I really do wonder if they had consulted any attorneys before he took this plea deal? Had/have they consulted with anyone who gave them realistic information on this situation? Wouldn't that be your first step if your child was charged with murder? Did they and they just didn't want to hear it? I guess if you have enough money to throw at this, there will be an attorney out there willing to put on the outrageous defense you direct. But in most cases, an ethical and realistic legal team is going to strategize with the best they can do with the evidence they are up against. If you want full on circus and a mockery of the legal system, it's true, you probably won't get that pro bono. And that does not qualify as inhumane treatment!

I wonder if CW has shown any remorse for what he has done. That seems to be the part of this that has been lacking from him and his family. I wonder if he has admitted to his legal counsel that he did this. Not just "agreed" to plea, but actually gave them the real details of the murders he committed. If he did and mom is trying to get in there yammering how he shouldn't take this if he didn't do it... his legal team knows so much more than she does. He is an adult. I understand her frustration and desperation and I almost sympathize with how lost his parents are going about this legal situation, but there is a reason this woman has been sidelined throughout the process.

I have to doubt that they've consulted an attorney because if they had, surely that letter would never have been sent. Unless they just plain chose to ignore the legal advice they received. If that is the case, it was a very poor decision.

I don't think CW has admitted what he's done, just based on the DA's statement when he was asked about allocution, that they wouldn't get the truth out of him (paraphrased). MOO

 

[Tortoise]

At the time, Dad believed SW and the girls were missing. Probably thought he was going to aid in the search -- but Thayer's could have told him that CW had no interest in organizing or participating in a search party.

Thanks.

Hmm. Mother Watts said that they or she thought Shan'ann had taken the girls and left him. I do wonder if there's more we don't know, like he told his dad that police weren't buying his changing stories.

 

[ZsaZsa]

Couldn’t they do a wrongful death suit for each child and shanann? Or is that only if they are found not guilty?

I was just referring to the threat of suing the Watts for libel on behalf of Shanann.
I have no idea about wrongful death suits but it sounds like a good idea, except he has no funds available to sue for, does he ?

 

[MCDRAW]

But this is not judging it's armchair diagnosing her with a mental illness.

Maybe everyone is just trying to find an excuse or reason for her behavior.

 

[ZsaZsa]

I am very puzzled by their lack of hiring an attorney to consult/advise with, help them understand the process on this case since for 4 months they have been unhappy with his defense team. Maybe they have but I think we would have heard about it if they did, idk. It seems lots of talk but no real action which I find telling.

Or written a letter directly to him. If he doesn't reply then they have their answer.

 

[?mysterian?]

I’m not sure that his mother was in Colorado at the time CW was arrested. I don’t remember reading anything about her. Does anyone know?

I'm pretty sure Mrs.Watts wasn't there, as others have posted, but I'd bet if CW had wanted her there, she'd have been there, IMO. Besides, who knows what they talked about on the phone before his arrest, if they talked.

Bottom line: CW has agreed to a plea deal where he will plead guilty to murdering all 4 of his family and will serve LWOP per the terms of the deal, as posted in this and previous threads. He's an adult. His parents have no say in the legal proceedings.

 

[tmar]

Someone may have already said this, and if so, consider this an my affirmation to that sentiment:

I am so hoping the judge lets CW have it with both barrels on Monday.
I can recall many sentencing hearings where the judge lets loose on the convicted criminal to tell him how despicable and heartless they are and how a worse punishment would be fitting but that they can only impose the maximum sentence allowed by the law. It is always powerful to me to hear words to that effect by the judge. I am so hoping that is what we will hear on Monday.

If the Judge tears CW to threads, we will then probably have another chapter with CW's mother, running down the Justice system.
Already she states the Defence Lawyers are at fault, then we may possibly hear about all the errors of the sentencing, that she feels occurred.
MOO.

 

[MollyDDD]

Thanks.

Hmm. Mother Watts said that they or she thought Shan'ann had taken the girls and left him. I do wonder if there's more we don't know, like he told his dad that police weren't buying his changing stories.

“Mother Watts”...reminds me of the movie Psycho for some reason.

 

[Lore Listener]

Because some of the details make little sense. It has been said there were 'witnesses' that saw the letter, but it may have been destroyed by the defense attorney, according to the family. Why wouldn't they make a copy?

And why would defense team destroy a letter like that?

And why would he send a letter, and not an email or a text? And if it was a letter, why type it up on Mom's computer in NC? And if it was typed into the computer, then it couldn't have been destroyed by the defense team.

And if he did feel like his life was in danger, why didn't he leave, and take his girls to safety?

It's almost like... like... his family is almost as good as CW at making up harebrained, totally implausible stories full of giant holes to try to create the insinuation that Shanann deserved to die.

 

[SaguaroSpirit]

Maybe everyone is just trying to find an excuse or reason for her behavior.

Which I don't see any excuse for. Evil, nasty heartless behavior. Trashing a dead pregnant woman. NO EXCUSES.

 

[SouthernSleuther]

Interesting point. The whole he was leaving HER statement at interview came across to me as smug

If I was that interviewer, my very next question would have been, “Why didn’t he?”

 

[molly1255]

I know! I'm twitching. I want to send it back with edits. Commas, apostrophes. How could they let something be submitted like this to the judge in their son's case without having it reviewed by an attorney? (Or...anyone.)

I really do wonder if they had consulted any attorneys before he took this plea deal? Had/have they consulted with anyone who gave them realistic information on this situation? Wouldn't that be your first step if your child was charged with murder? Did they and they just didn't want to hear it? I guess if you have enough money to throw at this, there will be an attorney out there willing to put on the outrageous defense you direct. But in most cases, an ethical and realistic legal team is going to strategize with the best they can do with the evidence they are up against. If you want full on circus and a mockery of the legal system, it's true, you probably won't get that pro bono. And that does not qualify as inhumane treatment!

I wonder if CW has shown any remorse for what he has done. That seems to be the part of this that has been lacking from him and his family. I wonder if he has admitted to his legal counsel that he did this. Not just "agreed" to plea, but actually gave them the real details of the murders he committed. If he did and mom is trying to get in there yammering how he shouldn't take this if he didn't do it... his legal team knows so much more than she does. He is an adult. I understand her frustration and desperation and I almost sympathize with how lost his parents are going about this legal situation, but there is a reason this woman has been sidelined throughout the process.

Agree - and as for the letter, IIRC, there was a dangling participle in there, too.

 

[Nessa131]

Where would the settlement come from? I doubt they could sue the parents, CW has nothing, and even the parents don't seem to be wealthy.

Oh i doubt they would ever get any monetary gain from it- but they might get answers as to exactly what happened etc. but i do not see them doing that. They want this all behind them and to never see him again. IMO

 

[Tortoise]

I was just referring to the threat of suing the Watts for libel on behalf of Shanann.
I have no idea about wrongful death suits but it sounds like a good idea, except he has no funds available to sue for, does he ?

Hopefully Mr Judge will tell CW in no uncertain words how abhorrent his attempts were to put the unthinkable murders of the children on the pregnant wife he had also murdered. Thus slapping the parents in the process.

 

[MCDRAW]

Respectfully, she has not denied that her 'lout' of a son murdered Shan'ann. She can't believe or understand that he murdered the girls but is willing to accept it. This family needs to hear it from their son and they haven't. There could be a multitude of reasons why not. Shan'ann's family have said their piece and it was very powerful.

And they did it without bashing anyone.

 

[Nessa131]

I was just referring to the threat of suing the Watts for libel on behalf of Shanann.
I have no idea about wrongful death suits but it sounds like a good idea, except he has no funds available to sue for, does he ?

Yea i doubt there is any money to be made- not that Shan’ann’s family wants that but jist more charges- maybe some answers. But JMO but i dount they do anything like that. I think they just want all of this behind them and never to hear from him again.

 

[Layla123]

My point was, does anyone know for sure he told his mother anything negative about Shanann? Or did his mother see things she didn't like and make it all up in her head?

I think CW and and SW were mismatched. SW was full of ambition and fire and CW wasn’t. CW was a 9 to 5 kind of guy, SW was an entrepreneur who wanted to shoot the moon. CW was laid back, SW was full of energy and wanted to go, go, go. I think SW pushed CW to keep up with her, but he didn’t have what she had, and he couldn’t. I can see where he thought she was saying he wasn’t good enough, and I can see where she thought he was lazy and undisciplined. I can see where CW might have interpreted her criticisms as abuse. I’m sure they both annoyed the Hell out of each other. He went looking outside of his marriage for sex and companionship, and he destroyed it, and all of SW’s dreams. I think the showdown happened that night, but I can’t figure out why he would kill her and the children. Why not just leave? All I can come up with is that she said something awful to him that made him feel like a worthless spot on the floor, and he became enraged. But why kill Bella and CeCe? I sure hope the DA provides us with the answers.